Monday may have been a government holiday but breaking news revealed that investigator with the Department of Homeland Security were on the clock as they raided the D.C.-area residence of Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D). The late-hour reaction on CNN News Central was to clutch their pearls over the raid happening so close to the midterms, and to scoff at accusations that Omar might have committed marriage or immigration fraud by allegedly marrying her brother to get him in the country.
“Kate [Bolduan], we're learning bits and pieces of what's happening here,” announced crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz. “But there is a search that was going on this morning or is going on still at the home of Ilhan Omar, the Democratic representative from Minnesota, who is also running again for Congress in the middle of this election season.”
While they didn’t know much given how fresh the developments where, Polantz put the pieces together to suggest it was an immigration raid:
This would be her D.C. area home. And the confirmation we've gotten of this is from the Justice Department itself. Them saying that the Justice Department secured a court-authorized search warrant and that Homeland Security investigators would be the agency that is conducting this search this morning. We don't have much more indication on exactly what this is, but it appears to be some level of an immigration investigation, given that it's Homeland Security doing this.
Following a clip of Border Czar Tom Homan on Fox News earlier in the day saying he wasn’t going to comment on an on-going investigation, Polantz went out of her way to dismiss accusations that Omar had committed “some level of immigration fraud” but completely skirted the details:
Now, there have been allegations from Republicans and including from Homar [sic] - from Tom Homan, the White House border czar, that there could be some level of immigration fraud. We don't have any of that substantiated at this time. And there haven't been any criminal charges or other immigration enforcement actions against Representative Omar.
Despite the on-going raid at the DC-area residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) by DHS, CNN scoffs at the accusation that she might have committed immigration fraud by married her brother to get him in the country, claiming:
"We don't have any of that substantiated at this time.… pic.twitter.com/JWcJtnpRwB— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 12, 2026
What Polantz omitted was the fact that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had declared publicly last month: “We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States.”
The biggest concern for CNN wasn’t the possibility that a sitting Democratic member of Congress had committed fraud, but that the investigation and raid happened within a month of the midterm elections (Click “expand”):
POLANTZ: So, this is an ongoing situation, and we're still seeing exactly what would come. But it is quite notable. It's in the middle of an election season and that this is a sitting member of Congress running for reelection.
BOLDUAN: I was going to ask more about that, Katelyn because it being so close to an election, there are generally speaking, we've seen this discussed in very much highlighted in terms of past investigations and what - what does or should happen within a certain number of days of an election. What does the Justice Department saying about this?
POLANTZ: Right. Well, Kate, there's a long standing policy at the Department of Justice. It's not a hard and fast rule, but it is a policy that the Department of Justice needs to take a lot of precautions in the 60 days before an election. We are well into that. We are not even a month away, and there is early voting happening across the country at this time for this election. Primary season is largely over.
It is unusual for the Justice Department to make such a what they would call an overt investigative step. And the Justice Department has all kinds of checks internally to make sure that there's sign off if there is going to be a step taken, like a search or like charges filed in a moment when it could influence an election so close to an election.
On top of that, there's also special Department of Justice policies around searching or charging or investigating sitting members of Congresses [sic] - members of Congress. That would certainly apply here.
“We don't know where the sign off was within the Justice Department, but this is a really interesting situation, politically charged, and also something that the Trump administration has been touting that they wanted to see for a long time,” Polantz concluded, trying to dismiss any possible credibility to the investigation.
Despite admitting that a court had signed off on the raid, meaning there must have been some strong evidence, CNN’s primary concern was how it could affect an election season their fellow Democrats could clean up in.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN News Central
October 12, 2026
9:49:26 a.m. EasternKATE BOLDUAN: So, some breaking news coming in as we speak. Learning that federal officers have conducted a search and did so early today at the home of Democratic congressional representative Ilhan Omar. CNN's Katelyn Polantz is gathering the details on this for us and joins us now.
Katelyn, what are you learning?
KATELYN POLANTZ: Kate, we're learning bits and pieces of what's happening here. But there is a search that was going on this morning or is going on still at the home of Ilhan Omar, the Democratic representative from Minnesota, who is also running again for Congress in the middle of this election season.
This would be her D.C. area home. And the confirmation we've gotten of this is from the Justice Department itself. Them saying that the Justice Department secured a court-authorized search warrant and that Homeland Security investigators would be the agency that is conducting this search this morning.
We don't have much more indication on exactly what this is, but it appears to be some level of an immigration investigation, given that it's Homeland Security doing this. And also some of the statements that are coming out out of the White House, specifically by White House Border Czar Tom Homan. Here he is speaking to Fox News, when asked about Representative Ilhan Omar.
[Cuts to video]
TOM HOMAN (White House border czar): Well, I'm not going to get ahead of Todd Blanche on this or Secretary Mullin, but we know this investigation was ongoing for a while. There was a warrant executed this morning, and so I'll leave it at that. The specifics of the investigation, I think I need to get turn that over to Todd Blanche or Markwayne Mullin. I don't want to get ahead of them in commenting on an ongoing investigation.
[Cuts back to live]
POLANTZ: Now, there have been allegations from Republicans and including from Homar [sic] - from Tom Homan, the White House border czar, that there could be some level of immigration fraud. We don't have any of that substantiated at this time. And there haven't been any criminal charges or other immigration enforcement actions against Representative Omar.
So, this is an ongoing situation, and we're still seeing exactly what would come. But it is quite notable. It's in the middle of an election season and that this is a sitting member of Congress running for reelection.
BOLDUAN: I was going to ask more about that, Katelyn because it being so close to an election, there are generally speaking, we've seen this discussed in very much highlighted in terms of past investigations and what - what does or should happen within a certain number of days of an election. What does the Justice Department saying about this?
POLANTZ: Right. Well, Kate, there's a long standing policy at the Department of Justice. It's not a hard and fast rule, but it is a policy that the Department of Justice needs to take a lot of precautions in the 60 days before an election. We are well into that. We are not even a month away, and there is early voting happening across the country at this time for this election. Primary season is largely over.
It is unusual for the Justice Department to make such a what they would call an overt investigative step. And the Justice Department has all kinds of checks internally to make sure that there's sign off if there is going to be a step taken, like a search or like charges filed in a moment when it could influence an election so close to an election.
On top of that, there's also special Department of Justice policies around searching or charging or investigating sitting members of Congresses [sic] - members of Congress. That would certainly apply here. We don't know where the sign off was within the Justice Department, but this is a really interesting situation, politically charged, and also something that the Trump administration has been touting that they wanted to see for a long time.
BOLDUAN: Yeah, many - lots of questions here and lots more detail to learn of what happened - what happened this morning, what and what even may be still unfolding as we speak. Katelyn, thank you very much for that. Katelyn Polantz all over this breaking news for us.
